Overcoming Obstacles and Going from Stuck to Unstoppable with Stephen Scoggins

My guest today is Stephen Scoggins. Stephen is an award-winning, successful, multi-million-dollar serial entrepreneur, best-selling author, and creator of Transform U. He has been featured all over the country in notable outlets such as Forbes, Entrepreneur, NBC, ABC, and many more. Stephen takes his 43+ years of setbacks, failures, breakdowns, losses, successes, and comebacks, and transparently uses them to provide simple yet effective step-by-step exercises to help anyone break through their limitations.

We start this episode with Stephen sharing his background story. He shares that his background reads a lot like Forrest Gump or Joseph from the Bible, depending on the perspective you come from. Growing up in a very difficult household, he was forced to grow up very quickly. He found himself homeless at the age of 21 and a lot of that had to do with him not knowing who he was and the value that he could provide. After what he calls a faith conversion, his entire life changed and within a year and a half, he went from being homeless to developing a multimillion dollar business.

We then moved on to discussing Stephen’s journey. He talks about the epiphany that led him to ask for a second chance. With the help of his father, he started working in construction with his first mentor. He made his first tools out of the lumber that was in the trash. He says that construction taught him how to use his hands, which taught him how to use his head which later taught him how to use his heart. Today, as an extremely successful entrepreneur, he believes that the greatest purpose you'll ever have in life is serving the person you used to be. His mission today is to help others achieve a higher level of success, whatever that may be for them.

Stephen also briefly reflects on his relationship with his parents. He shares how his whole perspective changed when he started thinking about his parents as wounded children that they once were. He talks about how this realization was one of the most pivotal moments in his life.

We then dive into discussing the importance of platforms that Stephen has today. When he first noticed that he had the ability to speak out, Stephen made a promise to himself that he was going to serve one person to the best of his ability and if that leads him to a greater platform, fantastic; if it doesn't, he's still going to serve that one person to the best of his ability. He believes that too many people today chase the platforms, rather than chasing the impact. But, helping the one will eventually lead to helping the many.

Lastly, we talk about what holds people back. Stephen explains why he believes that everything that is business-related is actually personally related. According to him, people’s pain points are hidden in one of three places: (1) who am I, (2) why am I here, (3) how do I do it. And if you want to move forward, in whatever way you think that you want to move forward, these are the things that you need to work on.

Don’t miss this incredible episode of the Just Start Real Estate Podcast, with some amazing life lessons that will help you figure out what is stopping you and allow you to go from stuck to unstoppable with the help of Stephen Scoggins!

Notable Quotes:

“I found myself homeless at the age of 21 and a lot of that had to do with me not knowing who I was, not knowing the value that I bring, not really doing any kind of talent assessment to really nail that down.”

Stephen Scoggins

“My entire life is really dedicated to going back and serving the person that I used to be.”

Stephen Scoggins

“I wanted to control the people, my outcomes, my results, every daily step. It’s like the tighter I tried to put a control factor on it, the more and more difficult life became for me, as a result.”

Stephen Scoggins

“It was almost like I was walking around the world wearing a permanent pair of sunglasses. It didn't matter how bright the skies were or who I came in contact with, I always saw a dark tint, so to speak.”

Stephen Scoggins

“You can't blame your parents, your entire life for how you are. At some point, you have to take control and break that chain.”

Mike Simmons

“It pisses me off when people tell me they don't have the tools, they don't have the advantage. Like man, pull them out of the metaphorical garbage and get to work.”

Mike Simmons

“People are not aware of what is around them, because they are not looking for it.”

Stephen Scoggins

“When you're in business for yourself, you're gonna have an evolution of your identity.”

Stephen Scoggins

“The greatest mistake that I ever made in building a business was not building myself.”

Stephen Scoggins

“The construction industry taught me how to use my hands. That taught me how to use my head, which later taught me how to use my heart. And now every single endeavor that I take advantage of or pursue, comes out of that combination of heart, head, and hands.”

Stephen Scoggins

“The greatest purpose you'll ever have in life is serving the person you used to be.”

Stephen Scoggins

“The place that I find the greatest freedom, the greatest joy, the greatest purpose, the greatest passion, the things that inspire me the most, all have come from learning things along the journey from the homeless kid to here.”

Stephen Scoggins

“Your money or influence don’t matter, you know what you needed at certain points in your life, and if you just take a moment to try to help people out who are in those same spots, what a great way to give back.”